Dust and Echoes
by CipherHedgehog064
Summary: When Mobius is suddenly attacked and laid to ruin by an unknown race known as The Shattered, the survivors of the initial invasion are forced to retreat to a remote underground facility known as the Stronghold. Now, the remaining Mobians must band together and put an end to The Shattered's genocidal campaign, before The Shattered locks Mobius a perpetual nightfall.
1. The Sea of Ruin

Chapter 1 – The Sea of Ruin  
"_They have razed our world. Razed it all."_

__  
We called them The Shattered. Their arrival changed us for the worst. They came, raining from the skies and wreaked havoc on our cities and turned them into smoking rubble and debris. Great cities collapsed, defence systems rendered useless, our losses amounted severely, and before we knew it, we lost, and all that was left on the surface was dust and echoes. The Shattered had won, and that was the end of everything; our Golden Era, our quest never-ending for knowledge... our hope. All was laid to waste in their inexorable genocide._

_The Shattered had taken our planet, and we were hopeless to stop them. Their plans to lock Mobius in perpetual nightfall would not be stopped._

_And so, we retreated, in fear that they may wipe us out completely. We regrouped and together, we built the Stronghold, our main base of operations, our last bastion... our last hope of ever reclaiming our fallen planet._

_It is here we regroup, rearm, and plan our counter-assault. If the Stronghold falls..._

_..._We_ will.  
__

There is something to be said about the colour grey. The colour grey is not bright, not vibrant. The colour grey is not the colour one thinks of when they hear the word "life". For many, the colour grey is like lifelessness.

Just like the conditions on Mobius after the first invasion of the Shattered; no longer teeming with life, no longer vibrant, no longer colourful, no longer filled with happiness and laughter. After the invasion, the planet was nothing but a shell of its former self, now covered in dust, ruin, destruction, and misery. The Mobius everyone knew was gone. The bright and colourful Mobius was made the opposite; just grey. In short, Mobius had collapsed, fallen, and ruined...

...and yet, a glimmer of hope still remained for the survivors of the invasion.

Amidst the sea of ruins and debris and what looked and felt like a thousand years of entropy of a once prosperous city stood a yellow twin-tailed fox, a stark contrast from the sea of grey that surrounded him. His sapphire blue eyes took in the destruction. Ruined buildings barely held up, broken glass littered the debris, crushed cars lay under large chunks of concrete and steel. In the distance, the fox could see a bridge missing most of its support, ready to collapse, just like Mobius did. Silence was all that could be heard grey, the only colour that could be seen, smoke, the only thing that could be smelled. So much like the opposite of what the city was once like.

_'What happened?... We had everything, and now, we have nothing...'_ the fox thought to himself.

Sunlight barely penetrated the thick black smoke that filled the air, and what little light it could cast on the surface was barely enough to illuminate the surroundings in a pale greyish-yellow light. The Sun was the only thing standing between illumination and darkness. Every time the cloud blocked the Sun's light, it seemed as if night had come early. Pillars of sunlight pierced through whatever gap in the thick smoke and heavy clouds, and it looked as if the pillars of light are the only support for the seemingly heavy skies above. The world around looked lifeless and barren.

Much like the fox's spirit at that moment.

It was almost certain he would not be able to find anyone still alive in the ocean of concrete and cement, but he still held on to the hope that someone, maybe someone was still there, hanging on and waiting for help. The thought of that drove him to continue his search. He wouldn't let innocent Mobians and humans die. Enough lives have been lost already, he wasn't ready to let any more lives slip away, and so, he pressed on.

He tread lightly and carefully on the broken concrete – one false step could break the now fragile slabs. Navigating the ocean of destruction felt akin to going through an obstacle course; having to jump here, climb up there, slide down here, run fast here, walk slowly there, it was tiring for the fox - on top of having to search for survivors, he had to navigate what was essentially a gruelling obstacle course . After thirty-five minutes of running and jumping and sliding and searching, he stopped to rest under a slab of concrete sticking out of the pile of other concrete slabs next to him. He cursed the fact that the Shattered had suppressed their powers and weakened their stamina and strength.

"_Tails, come in,"_ a voice interrupted the silence.

The fox raised his wrist communicator to his mouth, "Yeah?"

"_Any luck?" _the voice asked.

"...No. Nothing so far," Tails replied

"_...All right. Keep searching. Round up any survivors if you find any and fall back to the Stronghold. Stay safe and stay low,  
buddy. Anything happens, don't hesitate to shoot."_

"Understood, Sonic... I'll try to find someone..." he clicked off the communicator. "...while I still can," he added to himself.

He continued his search, doing what he - and others like Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles and other able-bodied survivors - was doing, looking under piles of debris, searching inside half-intact buildings that somehow managed to withstand explosive power of the Shattered's orbital ballistic missiles (Tails saw this act of firing missiles from orbit as very pusillanimous). However, all he managed to find was the same thing - rubble, ruin, wreckage and decay.

He only searched for about seven minutes before he heard the roaring sound of an engine overhead. It didn't sound anything like a Mobian-built engine. Which only meant one other thing.

The Shattered. They probably saw him and are probably on their way to kill him.

Tails cursed under his breath and immediately dashed for the nearest piece of cover – a broken slab of concrete jutting out of the debris – and hid himself under it. Adrenaline rushed through the fox's veins and his heart raced as the sound of the engine crescendoed to a deafening roar. They were landing.

_'They _were_ watching me!'_ Tails thought. _'...Okay, stay calm... Maybe they will pass by...'_

The engines cut and whined down. Tails heard a hiss and the mechanical _clinks _and_ clanks_ of an automated pressurised door releasing its complex locks, and the next sound he heard was a hum as the door opened and the dropship released its cargo of a squad of Shattered soldiers.

Tails tried to control his breathing when he realised that he was taking very shallow and quick breaths in his anxiety.

_'If anything happens... don't hesitate to shoot...'_ he thought of Sonic's advice. He readied his weapon.

He picked up the sound of footsteps headed towards his hiding spot. The sound of them turning over every loose and light pieces of debris, and the sound of an unfamiliar language that the Shattered spoke broke the brief almost-silence. From the way they were speaking, they sounded annoyed and irritated, almost as if they were dropping invectives in their sentences. Their vexation amused Tails.

'Heh, good luck finding me,'Tails confidently whispered under his breath.

At least, he _thought_ he whispered it. The first sign that made it clear that Tails' sentence was not at all spoken quietly as he thought was the fact that the Shattered soldiers suddenly stopped talking. The next sign was the sound of footsteps going closer to Tails' hiding spot.

_'...Me and my big mouth.'_

His heart raced faster as the Shattered soldiers approached his hiding spot. He heard one of them bark something that sounded close to _"It's your time!" _(the Shattered had picked up the English language in their invasion) in a distorted growling voice that sounded like rocks scraping against each other on a deep ocean floor.

He was certain that he would have to fight them.


	2. The Sea of Ruin Part 2

Chapter 2 - The Sea of Ruin Part 2  
_"Your odds of survival are 3720 to 1, unless you pull the trigger."_

_  
Every end crawls from the same pit, rising from the schism to swallow matter, light and life. - Unknown  
_

_'What did I get myself into?'_

The fox had asked himself that question time and time again, but this time, that question sounded different. He knew the answer. Yet, he still asked himself that question. Was it for confirmation that he really did what he just did? Was it because of Mobian nature to ask rhetorical questions they already knew the answers to?

His mind would not think of why he asked himself that question, because his mind was now deciding whether or not to stand firm and fight or run away. Fight or flight? The question one's mind asks when faced with danger, as it analyses the upcoming threat, and the best possible way to deal with it safely. The mind ensures the body's safety by deciding the best course of action upon the analysis of the situation, whether it be fight or flight. However, neither option seemed possible for Tails. If he ran, the Shattered soldiers would chase him down, or worse, kill him immediately. He did not know exactly how many of them there are, which meant that fighting was not a good option either. One cannot go into a battle not knowing his enemy.

The sound of the Shattered soldiers' footsteps grew louder and louder. It was as if each loudening footstep was a syllable in a song of endings, growing louder and louder as each moment passes by, each moment the listener's life coming closer and closer to its inevitable end. The soldiers' footsteps are no different. The closer they walked, the louder their footsteps got, and Tails' last moment could be nigh. He made his decision. If he was going down, there would be someone - or in this case some_thing_ \- going down with him. He raised his weapon and pointed the barrel forward. He could feel the cold steel of the weapon through his gloves, the weight of the gun, and see the dull gleam on the metal that forged the weapon. The weapon also vibrated gently, and gave off a silent hum as it awaited the pull of the trigger to send forth its payload towards those unfortunate enough to be standing in front of the barrel. The weapon may be small, but the pain it delivers tells a different story... Well, in theory, anyway.

The Shattered soldiers continued approaching Tails' location, the leader of the group barking orders in their language. The sound of the footsteps sounded like they were coming from more than one location at once, behind, left and right. At first, Tails thought his hearing was acting up. He listened closely again to each _thump, thump, thump_ of footfall. One set coming from behind, another from his right, growing softer and another from the left also growing softer. They didn't know where Tails' exact hiding location was.

They were splitting up.

_"Tails, you there?"_ Tails' wrist communicator crackled silently at a volume so low that the fox had to hold it up to his knew he couldn't answer, only listen as his friends try to contact a fox that was in serious danger, but unable to speak or call for help.

_"Tails, you there?"_ the voice repeated.

Tails so badly wanted to respond, but the only answer he could give was silence. If he spoke, the Shattered soldiers would know where he was.

_"This is Shadow. Fox, you there? Tails? Don't go silent on us now."_

_"Something's going on..."_ another voice joined the conversation.

_"Tails? Buddy? Respond, man, we're starting to get worried."_ Sonic's voice joined in.

Silence. That was Tails' only response.  
___

Sonic the Hedgehog found Tails' silence unusual. The fox would usually respond almost immediately after the first call. However, this time, he didn't respond after repeated calls from his friends. Something suspicious was going on, and he didn't like it.

_"Sonic, you're the closest to Tails' last known location. Can you go and see what's happened to him?"_ Shadow's voice crackled from Sonic's wrist communicator.

"All right," Sonic replied.

He scanned the ruins of the City of Ishtar with his emerald eyes. His friend had to be there somewhere, but what was going on with Tails? Why didn't he respond? Where was he? He tried to think of possible reasons, but he couldn't think of any. Not at the moment, anyway. He ran across the broken terrain of jagged concrete and torn steel, hoping that his friend was in no danger. Maybe Tails was just busy with something, or maybe Tails just accidentally clicked off the wrist communicator and didn't realise it.

His azure blue quills, now slightly greyed by all the dust and soot of the city, flowed as he ran. He wished he could run faster, but the Shattered had to ruin it all, as if ruining Mobius was not already enough. Evil intentions have no limit.

_"...Guys... help," _Tails' voice crackled from Sonic's wrist communicator.

"Tails!?" Sonic called out.

_"Sonic, I-" _the transmission ended abruptly.

_"Sonic, get to Tails, now!"_ Shadow barked.

"I'm on it!" Sonic responded. He continued running across the ruined terrain, fearing only the worst.

To Sonic, it felt like he was running for hours before he spotted something out of the ordinary.

In the distance, the hedgehog could see something out of place. Its shape was too smooth to be part of the jagged ruins, its position too perfectly placed to be a piece of debris. What really gave it away was the faint dark green glow that it gave off. Sonic resisted the temptation to make a mad dash for the dropship, over the fear that he may get spotted, and instead chose to sneak his way toward it. It felt agonising; every second he wasted going slow Tails could be getting closer and closer to the inevitable, but if he ran, the Shattered might see or hear him. He dodged around behind crushed cars and rough, worn asphalt and concrete, keeping low.

_"It's your time!"_

That voice belonged to a Shattered soldier. They probably have found Tails.  
___

Tails had no idea what to do. For the first time ever, he had no idea what to do. He was always the one that formulated the plans, made brilliant inventions and was the one to go to when one did not know what to do.

Yet, there he was, completely stumped. Unable to think. Unable to move.

His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his mouth, and, without him knowing it, his breathing became shallower and faster. His entire body trembled, and he could see his weapon shaking in his hands. He doubted he would be able to hit anything. He heard the sound of the Shattered soldiers' footsteps heading toward his hiding spot.

His end could be nigh.  
___

Sonic kept low, peeking out of the ruins for brief moments to see where the Shattered soldiers were. He was close.

"Guys, I think I know what happened to Tails," the hedgehog whispered into his communicator.

_"What happened?"_ Shadow asked.

"The split-lips looking for him."

_"How many?"_

"Three."

_"All right, then just take them out. Quietly. We don't want any more attention."_

Sonic readied his weapon. Holding a weapon seemed like a far-fetched dream, and he himself said that he wouldn't even be caught dead holding one, and yet here he is, holding one, readying it to claim its victims. Sonic never killed anything. He never wanted to, but "times have changed", as he was told.

He peeked out of his cover once more, took aim...

...And a blast of white-hot plasma struck the worn concrete slab he was hiding behind, melting the part that the blast struck against. Sonic fell back in surprise. They saw him, and he didn't know how.

_"It's your time, Mow-bee-an!" _one of the aliens growled.

"Yeah, whatever, split-lip!" Sonic responded.

The Shattered responded with another blast to the concrete. The blast pierced through the slab - right next to Sonic. The hedgehog had to do something fast, before the aliens shoot away his cover. He could try running for another piece of cover, but then they would shoot _that_ to hell and he would have to run to another and the cycle could go on forever. He tried to peek his head out again, but another blast to the slab told him it was better to just stay down.  
___

Tails could hear the steady _crack! crack! crack!_ of the aliens' Line Rifles firing away. He had to do something soon before they attract the attention of other Shattered soldiers with their gunfire. He slowly crawled out of his hiding space and peeked out. The Shattered had completely forgotten about him and focused all their attention on shooting a piece of concrete. Their backs were turned to him. It was an opportune time to strike.

_"It's your time, Mow-bee-an!"_ one of the aliens growled.

"Yeah, whatever, split-lip!"

Sonic. They weren't just shooting a piece of concrete, they were shooting a hedgehog hiding behind that piece of concrete.

It was a "now or never" situation. Either Tails takes his shots **now**, or he will **never** see his friend again. He aimed his weapon at one of the aliens.

_'These bullets are now yours... not mine.'_ Tails thought aloud.


End file.
